I LOVE to fly, but I HATE airport security. When flying I usually don't have any problems and if I do its when I get to security. When I refer to "problems" I am not referring to major issues like no reservations or forgetting something, but the little things that could easily be perceived as "drama" and that I would usually say only affect me, but KNOW some of you relate to.
For today, the short car to terminal trip has been just that. It all started when the bag we were checking was 60 pounds which meant $70.00 to check it. It would have been cheaper to just remove 10 pounds and mail it home, but why would we do that? It actually would have almost been cheaper to buy a seat for our bag or call it a small child and ask if it could ride on one of our laps. Maybe I should have told them about my weight loss and informed that that even with the additional 10 pounds I was still saving them money.
After the alarming reality that we would be shelling out the additional $50.00 for 10 pounds I thought that would surely be the last surprise. Haha, I was wrong. As I came upon the security officer counters I was not greeted but looked at as if I was a nuisance and causing this bored/preoccupied officer to actually do his job. He never said one word to me, but rather did the "hand over your documents" hand gesture.
After encountering that pearl came the dreaded undressing. Usually, I travel when a heavy shoe and coat is required so besides the regular necessities I carry, I had an unusual amount of garb and other items. I usually leave my computer at home anytime I travel and didn't know the "computer by itself in a tub" rule. I believe that by the time my items went into the scanner I had a total of four tubs. Its no wonder they were almost out on the other end of security by the time my items had been scanned.
I usually get lucky passing thought metal detectors, but this time I encountered the "fully body scanner". I am not sure what they see on that little screen while I am standing with my hands above my head and my feet straddling the two blue rectangles that feel uncomfortably spaced apart, but if only their machine could see the thoughts going through my mind as I stand as still as possible for 10 seconds which feel more like 10 minutes.
Once I had been cleared to exit the scanner, I begin the task of corralling my four tubs, redressing and not forgetting anything which thankfully went smoothly.
So far there hasn't been any additional excitement on this journey, but we still have a layover in Atlanta, GA and late arrival into St. Louis. For now, I will get back to my "people watching" and listening the Lifehouse.
